How to turn your home into an ‘unhotel’

Share via

Kate Booker, pictured with a cheetah named Joseph in South Africa, rents out her home when travelling

2 of 2

Brett Symes

David Budworth

Last updated at 6:00PM, February 15 2013

Thousands of Britons are making their holiday pay for itself by inviting
strangers into their homes while they are out of town. Growing numbers are
casting their reservations aside and hiring out their homes to travellers
who are tired of soulless hotels, through specialist websites. The trend,
given a boost in London by last year’s Olympics, has been christened the
rise of the “unhotel”.

Started in San Francisco in 2008, Airbnb.co.uk lists 15,000 homes across the
UK, from Central London flats to croft-style cottages in the Isle of Skye.
The German-start up Wimdu.co.uk has 5,000 places to stay on its